


Reverse

by Anjelle



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amnesia, Brotherly Angst, Brotherly Bonding, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-26
Updated: 2014-10-15
Packaged: 2018-02-18 20:43:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2361584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anjelle/pseuds/Anjelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Instead of becoming a pirate, Luffy was dragged off by Garp to become a Marine. He's just been promoted to Captain and is about to have a face-off with the Whitebeard pirates. As the battle approaches, he keeps having dreams about a man named Ace who he swears he's never met. What will happen when he meets this man face-to-face on the battlefield?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Bit of Deja vu

_Luffy was chasing someone. He was only a kid, probably around 7, and so was the boy ahead of him. This boy was a little older and a lot crueler. He had a darkness in his eyes that his young follower did not. He didn't speak, either, and did his best to keep Luffy away._

_"Ace! Let's be friends!"_

_Only seconds after saying that, the young boy saw a boulder get kicked off a cliff. He ran to avoid it, noticing his "friend" atop to the slope. No doubt he pushed it. The boy didn't bother to see if Luffy was alright and just left further into the forest. Luffy didn't mind. Sooner or later he was going to catch up to him. When he did, they would be friends._

* * *

Luffy and his crew waved as they departed from Marine Headquarters. He watched as his grandfather cheered from the shore among the small crowd that had gathered to see them off. All the men aboard filled with excitement as they thought of their first voyage. For most of them, that was it. Luffy had been out to sea before, but now he was the Captain for once. That was a nice change. Of course, he wasn't enthusiastic about having to call the shots – he wasn't very smart when it came to all of the technical jargon the Marine's shoved down his throat. If he was honest, he couldn't remember even a bit of it. Still, somehow he had made it. He wasn't sure why, but now he was Captain. That sounded nice.

The best part about the whole thing was that he had been temporarily assigned to the Grand Line. Apparently there had been a lot of fleets destroyed there lately by the Whitebeard pirates and the Marines were running low on people. Because of that, several ships were headed to assist them. This was the fun part for Luffy. Soon he would be able to go all out and fight with the most feared pirates in the sea. He was only being sent out because the situation was so dire, but he was satisfied none-the-less.

It was strange, though. Whitebeard wasn't one to attack furiously like he was. The only reason he would do something so drastic would be to protect his crew members. If the Marines had captured one of his men then it was their own fault they were getting destroyed, even Luffy had to admit that. He hadn't been briefed on it, though, so he couldn't be sure.

* * *

Luffy was sitting in his office. He wanted to get a look at Whitebeard's Commanders. That way if he ran into any of them he would be able to make an arrest. Of course, he really just wanted to kick some ass as soon as possible, but his men didn't need to know that.

When the Lieutenant dropped off the wanted posters, Luffy quickly rummaged through them. The first was Marco the Phoenix. That man was well-known even at HQ. Aside from Whitebeard himself, that guy was the strongest there. Luffy trembled with excitement. He would love the chance to try to beat up someone like him. Contrary to how little he paid attention during briefings, he remembered a lot about that guy. He was a mythical zoan-type user who could regenerate at will. That would be annoying to get around, but haki should be able to do _some_  damage. He was the 1st Division Commander and with good reason; no Marine he faced had ever come close to beating him. Aside from that, there wasn't much to say – he was a mystery, really.

The next posters were of Jozu, Haruta and Izo. Though none of them rivaled Phoenix, they were all formidable opponents. No one in the Whitebeard crew was weak, though. These three were some of the strongest. To the knowledge of Marine HQ they also remained undefeated. Luffy's confidence was ridiculous but even he wondered if he could match up against them. He was only a Captain, after all; if it weren't for the situation he would probably be stationed at an island somewhere. That would be no fun, but he wasn't experienced with taking on such incredible foes. He'd been praised for his strength throughout his whole career, but this was probably going too fast. Oh well, at least he could have some fun.

Then he flipped to the next poster. His mouth dropped as he stared into the face of someone he never thought existed:  _Portgas D. Ace._ This guy was apparently the 2nd Division Commander. His bounty was well over 500 million beli which was ridiculous for someone who seemed to have appeared from out of nowhere. That wasn't what shocked Luffy. This man was someone he knew. He never met him, though, if that made sense. He'd seen that face before. He remembered the name Ace so clearly that seeing it on paper gave him a sense of déjà vu. But still, he didn't know him.

Sometimes Luffy would dream. Since returning from his last mission, the dreams had all centered on this one black-haired boy. He knew that they couldn't have met in real life but when he would dream it felt like they'd always known each other. In those visions both were young. They never went in any particular order, which was confusing, but in each they were always together. Sometimes there was another boy with them but he hadn't caught the name.

Lately the dreams were so vivid that he began confusing them with memories. It was hard to tell when he was awake or asleep when that happened. He never expected that boy to exist, let alone be a Commander under Whitebeard who was said to be the strongest man in the world. Well, it had to be a coincidence. He never saw the boy from his dreams grow up, so they might have just shared the same name.

* * *

After stuffing his face and playing tricks on his crew all day, Luffy headed to bed. The poster from earlier hadn't left his mind. Just what the hell was going on? He forced himself to drop the subject and relaxed. That was no time to be wondering about some stupid dreams. He needed his rest. In three more days he would be face-to-face with the most infamous pirates in the world.

_Panting heavily, Luffy dashed past trees and foliage until he came to a steep cliff. He stood tall. Below the cliff there was a small boat leaving Fushia Village's dock. Ace was on that boat. He was so proud of him. Finally he would be setting out. He imagined all of the adventures he would go on and couldn't wait for his day to come too._

_"Luffy!" Ace saw the boy and shouted happily his way. That would be the last time they would see each other for a long time. It was sad, but only a little. It was necessary in order for them to follow their dreams. He'd miss him a lot though. After 7 years together the time finally came when they would have to part._

* * *

"Captain, I think I see something!" one of the Marines called from the crow's next. After several minutes, the objects came in closer view. "It's Whitebeard!" The man sounded like he'd seen a ghost. His face turned pale white and he looked like he was going to pass out from shock. Not Luffy, though. No, he had been waiting for this.

"Who are they fighting?" he asked calmly, seeing tiny balls of light emerge from the black dots in the distance. He could hardly contain himself. That was it. Finally!

"It seems to be one of the Vice Admiral's ships. There are two others but I think they've been taken out!"

Luffy grinned in anticipation. There were a lot of really strong guys over there. He could finally let loose! His past opponents barely put up a fight, it was a joke. Now  _those_  were real pirates. They were the reason he'd joined the Marines in the first place.

"Prepare for battle! We're going in! Shishishi!"


	2. Prelude

Ace finished off the Marines one by one. His attacks were so effortless that he was actually getting bored. Commissioned officers were always so weak; he didn't know why the World Government was sending them after such a notorious pirate crew. There had to be a reason – low on staff, maybe? He laughed at that. Oyaji had them take out so many fleets lately that it was no wonder the number of worthy foes was dwindling. It was ridiculous that the government was still trying. At that point they were just sending their men to their slaughter. Kinda sad, though he didn't sympathize with them.

Izo, Haruta and the other commanders were in the same state he was. They were starting to feel sorry for the Marines, but that's what happened when you made Oyaji angry. The commanders should have stayed onboard and let their divisions handle it. It was such a waste of time. Some began to retreat back to the Moby Dick to relax while their men handled the rest. The enemy was an embarrassment to both Marines and pirates.

As Izo turned to return to the deck, he spotted something off in the distance. After squinting he realized that it was in the shape of a ship. They hadn't called for back-up so it obviously belonged to the Marines. He sighed while deciding that they shouldn't retreat just yet. It wasn't a big deal, but it was best not to leave their underlings to deal with another ship; they didn't have the same stamina that the commanders did. Besides, what if there was a Vice Admiral on the ship? Their forces could have ended up annihilated.

"Hey," he called out, being sure that everyone heard, "we're not done yet."

All of the commanders turned to where Izo pointed and sighed. Lately they never had a chance to take a break. They kept a close eye on the distant figure and were glad that it was only one ship. If they were lucky, they could finish it up in a good twenty minutes and be on their way. They envied Marco who was allowed to stay on the ship. Apparently there was no reason for him to waste his strength on such small prey.

Ace stopped pummeling the enemy long enough to see where his fellow commanders were staring. He looked over and as soon as he did he saw a long, skin-coloured…thing approach. Before his brain had time to process what he saw, something from the faraway ship shot at them. As it passed him by, he saw a head of black hair and a white uniform. For a minute he thought he saw his brother, but there was no way  _he_ would be caught in Marine garb.

The other commanders watched blankly as the young man catapulted their way. Before even landing he drew back his fist and mumbled something under his breath before a stretched arm went flying into Vista's face. The 5th Division Commander was thrust back and into the body of the ship. His comrades stared in awe. No one –not even the Vice Admirals they faced before – had managed to knock that man down.

The enemy clapped his hands together and dusted himself off. He was young, somewhere in his late teens. Despite his age he wore a Marine Captain's jacket, no doubt to show off his rank. Clad in white, the boy looked rather off. Izo didn't think it suited him, but that didn't matter. When he turned around he revealed abnormally large eyes with a scar adorning the left. He didn't look strong but his actions proved otherwise. Their battle was getting interesting.

"So," he began, grinning wildly, "you're the Whitebeard pirates?" His voice was high-pitched for a boy his age. Familiar. Ace found himself turning around at the sound of it. His heart stopped when he realized who it was.

"Think you can take us on?" Haruta taunted as her sword made its way to face the new foe.

"Of course," Luffy stated. His smile was playful yet serious. The trademark hat of his sat atop his head and shadowed his eyes, making them appear all-the-more dangerous.

Seconds later they both shot at each other. Luffy stopped her blade between his hands and kicked her in the side. She went flying but adjusted herself mid-air and was back lashing at him as she did before. Her speed was incredible, but she seemed to lack the strength her comrades had. Still, she wasn't weak. She grazed his arm with her next blow and he clearly felt the pain. After backing off a bit, she thought he was going to withdraw. He didn't.

"I almost forgot," announced the boy as he took another step back. He altered his stance. Now it was more stable. Confident. He narrowed his eyes only slightly and suddenly everyone aside from him and the commanders were on the ground unconscious. That included the remaining Marines. After noticing that, he rubbed his head nervously. "I need to learn control."

"Conqueror's haki?" Thatch wondered aloud. He'd been watching the fight from the Moby Dick's deck and was surprised when he saw that boy appear.

"Hm?" Marco asked from where he was sitting near Whitebeard. His interest was piqued.

"Some Marine kid just showed up and used conqueror's haki. Only the commanders are left."

"Is that so?" He turned and looked at his Captain with a wry smile. "Oyaji?"

"Go on, son."

"Then," he began as he walked away and hopped onto the rail, "I'll go take care of it, yoi."

"You sure? They can handle some brat, whether he can use haki or not," Thatch stated, smiling his friend's way. It wasn't that Marco  _needed_ to step in, he  _wanted_  to. Thatch could see that clearly in his comrade's eyes despite their half-lidded appearance.

"Can't have them get tired out. We might be attacked again, yoi."

And with that, the blonde was off. He decided to get a look at the boy before taking action. Despite Haruta's furious attacks, he was holding his own. It was impressive, especially for some teenage Marine. He transformed his arms into wings and flew high above the battlefield surrounded by blue flames to analyze the area. The fight was taking place on the last remaining Marine ship. Off in the distance there were reinforcements. That would be annoying to deal with, so he shot his flames at the ship and sunk it. He wished he could do the same for the other but that would risk injury to the Whitebeard pirates. He sighed.

Down below both Haruta and the Marine were wearing down. They were covered in minor wounds, but it was their stamina that would decide the battle. However, neither would back down. Their attacks had been so furious that they were barely visible, but Haruta was clearly slowing down the fastest.

Luffy was having fun with that Whitebeard commander but something in the sky caught his attention. He saw the blue flames he had been waiting for. It didn't matter if he was tired or injured or even if he died so long as he had a chance to fight against the strongest member he could find. With those thoughts in mind he thrust himself upward and was face-to-face with the blonde man. He noted the man's tiny show of surprise and showed him a deadly grin.

"Been waiting for ya, Phoenix." With that, he shot his fists repeatedly at the man. He avoided them all and shot his flames at his enemy's chest. Each hit and he shot back down to the boat, breaking the wood floor on impact.

"Luffy!" Ace finally snapped out of his stupor and ran to the aid of his brother. His fellow commanders raised their eyebrows, including Marco who took his place next to the giant whole. Ace looked into the broken floor and saw sharp eyes glare up at him. He flinched at that – Luffy never made that kind of an expression.

Before he could say anything more, the Marine boy shot his fist at him and grazed his cheek. And it hurt. It shouldn't have, but it did. It was haki. Luffy didn't even know what haki was when he last saw him. Something wasn't sitting right with him. The worst of it all was his attire – Luffy, a Marine? There had to be some kind of mistake. It was a joke. It had to be. It had to be.

Luffy shot himself threw the wood and landed on the far-side of the whole. He was clearly on his last leg, no match for the great Phoenix. His breath was shallow and heavy and he was covered in burn marks. He knew he wasn't going to last. But he couldn't stop. Marines never gave up. They couldn't. They were the protectors of the people. If they didn't stand up to the pirates, who would?

"So that's the power of a mythical zoan-type, huh?" He laughed a little at this and wiped the blood from his mouth, leaving a smear that went all the way down to his chin.

He charged at Marco again. Each time he attacked he was met with a flaming fist or leg. Each attack left more wounds. They could smell burning rubber coming from his body; it was so strong that some of them felt sick. It was actually hard for the commanders to watch him continually get up despite being so beaten. He was barely conscious and was just running on instinct at that point. Eventually he collapsed.

Marco neared to deal one last blow.

"Wait"! Ace shouted as he stepped between the two. He couldn't sit back and watch any longer. Marco stopped, but only because his friend's actions intrigued him. He retained his bored expression and waited for Ace to explain himself. "He's my brother!"

…They weren't expecting that.


	3. The Captive's Brother

Luffy's eyes peered open to a dimly lit room. He was lying on a rather hard bed that had a lamp sitting next to it. The walls and ceiling were all wooden and smelled of the sea – something that was far too familiar to him. With one glance down he realized he'd been captured. Someone had placed seastone bands on his arms and legs, which explained why he was feeling as weak as he was. He was thankful that they weren't cuffs because escaping would have been near impossible if they were. At least now he had a chance.

"Sorry," a voice started from across the room, "they wouldn't let you on the ship without them."

Luffy looked up to see a freckled man wearing an orange cowboy hat: Fire Fist Ace. The man was pointing to the bands on his wrists but Luffy wasn't paying attention. He was more concerned with who was in front of him, seeing as he was recognizing a face he shouldn't have known. After thinking for a minute, he recalled seeing Fire Fist during his fight with the Phoenix. He hadn't processed the image back then and now he regretted remembering at all. That was the last person he wanted to see.

"What the hell happened to you?" The older male clenched his fists and teeth as he said that and made eye contact with the boy. He watched as large, blank eyes stared back at him. He realized then that the other boy hadn't a clue as to what he was referring to. It only agitated him further. "Why are you wearing that uniform?"

Luffy scoffed at that. "I'm a Marine," he declared matter-of-factly. He glared at the pirate sharply from the dark of the room. The only thing going through his head at the time was that he had to get out of there. Being captured by the enemy would no doubt make him the disgrace of the rookies. The only way he could redeem himself would be to bring back a pirate's head but he was clearly in no position to do that. So he would play along.

"Why?" the man shouted desperately. Clearly something was wrong. His tone was almost frantic and all of the muscles in his shoulders were tensed as he awaited a reply.

"Do I need a reason to fight against scum like you?" The shadows from his hat hit against his face and blacked out all but one eye. There was something almost inhuman about his expression.

"Luffy!" Ace blurted out, unable to listen to any more of his bullshit. He watched as his brother's eyes narrowed at the mention of his name. The boy sat up straight and leaned in curiously but the glint of hate never left his face.

"How do you know my name, pirate?"

"What are you on about?"

"My name," his tone deepened and a sense of danger rose into his voice, "how do you know it?" He articulated his words in such a way that it sounded to be more of a threat than a question. Something clicked in Ace's head. Luffy being a Marine wasn't the only problem – There was something off about him besides the obvious.

"What are you…?" Ace's voice trailed out as a thought emerged in his head. He hurriedly ran up to his brother and grabbed hold of his shoulders, gripping them firmly as he knelt down beside the bed. Fire Fist looked into his eyes in a panic and frantically tried to grasp the language to ask one more question. "Oi, do you know who I am?"

Luffy took a deep breath. He could feel the man's grip seep into his skin and his eyes had locked onto his so that he couldn't look away. Seeing him up close brought the memory of the child from his dreams to the forefront of his thought, but he dismissed it. "Portgas D. Ace. Fire Fist, 2nd Division Commander of the Whitebeard pirates with a bounty of 550 million beli."

"What else?"

"You refused the position of Shichibukai and ate the Mera Mera no Mi."

"What else?" He was starting to sound frantic. His grip was wavering.

"I don't make a habit of gathering information about pirates. That's all."

Ace let go of the boy and slowly dropped to the floor as he registered what had been said. He felt himself go cold despite being made of fire. Now it was starting to make sense. He wished he hadn't asked, though.

"Then…" his voice faded as he gathered his words. He looked up blankly at the Marine and cursed the expression on his brother's face. That wasn't Luffy. "…you don't remember me?"

Luffy flinched at that. It was strange seeing that man look so hurt when in his dream he always had an air of confidence about him. Of course, the boy from his dreams and the pirate that sat before him couldn't have been the same person, but they looked similar. It was eerie. Still, he would never associate with a pirate. They were monsters and it was his job to take them out. But his words were intriguing. How was he supposed to remember someone he never met?

"Strange," Luffy stated, referring to the man who sat only two feet away. He held his head in his hand and rested his elbow on his knee while looking at the pirate with half-lidded eyes. The more Ace saw, the more he realized how different that boy was from the brother he remembered. He didn't seem so different on the battlefield but now that they were alone it was like he was a different person. That was no doubt connected to the reason why Luffy had forgotten him. "So, get on with it."

"What?" Ace's voice was still uneven.

"You want to interrogate me or something, right? Hurry up with it." He paused for a second before adding another thought, "Oh, but I won't say anything. Doesn't matter if you torture me or not."

Ace rose to his feet and walked over to a wall. He punched it hard in a flash of anger and watched as woodchips flew in all directions. When he pulled his fist back, Luffy saw that the wood around the giant hole was charred from his power. He twitched but was otherwise unaffected. He'd pissed him off.

"You think I'd do something like that to my  _brother_?" Though Luffy couldn't see his face he could hear that the man was upset. And then he realized what he said.

"The hell are you saying?"

"You're my brother, Luffy."

"You're insane! Damn pirate!"

"…So you really don't remember?" He lunged at Luffy, grabbed him tightly by his collar and holding him up to his face. For the first time Luffy felt worried. The man snapped. "How the fuck could you forget?" He screamed and sent a haki-infused fist flying into the boy's face. He pulled back and went to hit him again.

Thatch and Marco opened the door and immediately rushed to hold their companion back. Ace calmed down once he saw the blood running down his brother's face. After settling he stormed out of the room, muttering a low "sorry" before he left.

* * *

"You gonna tell me what that was, yoi?"

"He pissed me off!"

"Clearly," Thatch chimed in. He rested his hand on Ace's shoulder, assuring him that they were there to listen. He wasn't in much of a talking mood. After an awkward silence, he sighed and decided he would explain. They wouldn't leave if he didn't.

"I already told you that's my brother."

"And? Pissed that he's a Marine?"

"Not just that," he inhaled noisily as if the next bit would physically hurt, "he doesn't remember me." The two commanders stood their blankly before the information settled. That kid just kept surprising him. "And he's different. He's not acting like himself."

"He tell you what happened?" Thatch inquired.

Ace shook his head. "Doesn't seem to even notice he forgot."

"We'll figure it out, yoi. Your brother is our brother."

"Thanks."

* * *

Bowl in hand, Ace walked down to the room they were keeping his brother. He had to remain level-headed this time, no matter what crap the boy spewed next. If he didn't, Marco would begin bringing him his meals. He and Thatch said that they couldn't risk him beating the crap out of the kid three times a day. Ace agreed.

He knocked lightly on the door before letting himself in. The last thing he needed was to startle the Marine and end up with a fight on his hands. When he entered he saw Luffy laying face-up on the bed. He appeared calm, arms behind his head in informal show of relaxation. Ace approached slowly and placed the bowl on the table next to his brother. He sat in the chair across the room.

"What do you want now?" The Marine moaned in an exasperated sigh.

"Sorry," he scratched the back of his head, "…about before. I got carried away."

Luffy shifted when he heard that. He didn't think Ace noticed, but he did. It seemed they both had enough time to cool down because his little brother hadn't spouted any insults yet. He saw the younger male turn his eyes to the bowl but immediately return his gaze to the ceiling. Ace knew exactly what he was thinking: he may have changed but  _that_ part of him remained the same.

"Eat. We're not in the habit of starving our guests."

"Guest?"

"We're not holding you captive." Luffy hopped up and pointed to the bands on his wrists dryly. Ace rubbed his head. He didn't want to put those on him in the first place – they felt awful. "Marco didn't want you wrecking the ship. You're not a prisoner."

"Then can I leave?"

"No."

"Then I'm a prisoner."

"Just shut up and eat." Irritation laced his words.

At the sound of his stomach Luffy grabbed hold of the bowl and spoon and began slowly eating his meal. It was unnerving to see him take his time and neatly chew the food. The Luffy he knew would just swallow the whole thing in seconds and ask for more. He never had any delicacy – much like most of the pirates onboard.

"Why'd you become a Marine?"

"To kill pirates." There was no hesitation in his answer. Ace had to tense at that. Wouldn't a normal Marine say something about protecting the people or bringing pirates to justice or some other crap like that?

"Kill, huh? Rather specific of you."

"I hate pirates."

"Oh?" Though the comment aggravated him it also piqued his interest. His mouth curved in a wicked smile and he adjusted his hat, mimicking his usual battle stance from where he was sitting. "That so?"

"Did I stutter?"

They both fell silent. Luffy continued his meal and Ace simply watched him, realizing how different that Luffy was. He wondered what happened to the little brother he used to know. Why did he forget? The boy he remembered from before he left was a cheery little brat who laughed at everything – even himself – and could rarely be taken seriously. He was one of the only two people who were able to tear down Ace's walls when he was young. Where did that little brother go?

He noticed that Luffy was struggling to hold up the spoon to eat. With a short groan he hopped to his feet and headed towards the boy. They stared each other down. Ace ignored his brother's glare and knelt down. He took a ring of keys from his waist and unlocked the bands on Luffy's wrists and ankles, leaving seastone holds to drop hard to the floor. He watched as the boy's face turned to one of surprise. The pirate picked himself up and headed out the door.

"Why?" Luffy's question stopped him but he continued looking towards the hall.

"We're not monsters." Ace slowly turned around, revealing a forced smile and slightly furrowed brow. "What kind of big brother would I be if I kept you locked up?"


End file.
